Yorkshire police estimated that as many as one million people lined the streets along the route, the vast majority no doubt hoping to witness a Cavendish victory, while the race was seen off by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

William and Kate, along with Prince Harry, later had a clear view of Cavendish's crash.

His spill in the final 200 meters enabled Giant-Shimano rider Kittel to race clear and take the yellow jersey ahead of Slovakia's Peter Sagan and Lithuania's Ramunas Navardauskas.

"I hope he gets well soon," Kittel said of Cavendish, who has won 25 Tour stages in his career and claimed the green jersey for top sprinter in 2011.

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"I don't know how badly he is injured. I hope he is all right. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing him tomorrow in the race again. I wish him all the best."

The 26-year old, who also won last year's opening stage, paid tribute to the enthusiastic Yorkshire crowd as well as his teammates who set him up for the win.

"It was so unbelievably loud. The fans were cheering," he said.

"My boys did an amazing job, they rode so strong. I felt so motivated and I had good legs today. I'm so, so happy that this worked."

Defending champion Chris Froome, who leads Cavendish's former outfit Team Sky, finished sixth after avoiding the fallout of the crash.

"It's unreal, absolutely unreal," Froome said. "The crowds out there were just incredible.

"Just a shame for Cav in the final there. It would've been nice to have a British victory today, but that's racing.

"Today was more about staying out of trouble, getting to the finish without any big issues."

Sunday's stage two will take the riders 201 kilometers (124 miles) from York to Sheffield, featuring roughly 3,000 meters of climbing.